Weekend
September 26, 2009

Do you recognize this famous face? No, no, I mean the woman, not the Corgi! That’s a clue. Yes, it’s Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1936 when she was Princess Elizabeth!
Royalty, someone in poverty, it’s all irrelevant to a dog isn’t it? Just look at their expressions. Bliss. And a Princess! Everything about this photo is beautiful. Love.
Photographer unknown.
Advocate
September 25, 2009

Hi-paw! The movement of people reading to their dogs is gathering momentum. And now a Celebrity Dog Trainer and Behaviouralist has been talking about some of the benefits of reading to your dog.
Carolyn Menteith (pictured above with her Digby) explains why she thinks reading to dogs in animals shelters is “a really brilliant idea”.
When local media asked for her opinion about reading to dogs in shelters she said, “A lot of volunteers can be quite full-on when they go in to kennels. They think they should be stroking and hugging the dogs and making a big fuss of them, but for a lot of dogs in rescue, that’s really quite scary.
“Suddenly, there will be this person they have never seen before trying to touch and hug them, so just having someone come in to the kennel to sit and read is a really good idea. It gets them used to people coming in and out.”
(I love the point Carolyn makes about tone of voice while reading. In Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul I’ve made it easier to read with emphasis in particular places to keep your dog’s interest by italicising and making some words and phrases LARGER and occasionally bold. And lots of space between the lines so you can spend more time looking at your dog than at the story.)
Dog magazine features writer and TV and radio dog trainer personality Carolyn continues, “The only thing I would say is that dogs respond to your tone of voice far more than what you say, so I think the choice of book could be quite significant”
She completely gets just how fun reading to your dog can be, “People will probably want to steer away from scary, racy or tense books for something a bit more happy. I would say Mills and Boon would be good but The Bourne Supremacy would be bad! People should stay away from books that are really exciting and stick to something a bit more gentle.
I have never heard of this kind of reading to rescue dogs scheme before and I think it’s fantastic.”
Puppy
September 23, 2009

A friend of mine was telling me she met a little puppy the other day. I asked her did it have puppy smell? Yes! This was followed by giggly coo-ing noises as we both remembered our dogs, both now seniors, when they were puppies.
Here’s a little of my Puppy Zen, passed to me years ago by wise dog guru, Vanda:
Whatever you put in for the first three years’ of your dog’s life is what you will get back for the rest of the dog’s life.
The power of this statement for me was that it instilled a high level of patience over puppy antics. (Yeah, that’s a euphemism for chewed furniture, stains on the carpet, a room smelling of dog pee, emergency calls to the vet, humiliation at dog obedience training, you get the idea ….) Why? As Dr. Phil would say there is a pay-off for you for all your good work. In this case the pay-off is huge: a good dog citizen and companion for the long term. Oh, and unconditional love.
This idea of getting back what you put in didn’t just help me through the puppy years, it had me reveling in them. Em, well, the second time at least! It’s the idea that your dog will only be a puppy for a short time so make the most of it and enjoy it.
Use this precious time to build a strong foundation for a fulfilling relationship between you and your dog.
Ideally, when you realize one day that your puppy is now a dog, the puppy smell has wafted away in the night, you can look back on the puppy years and pat yourself, as well as your good dog, on the back.
Weekend
September 19, 2009

Several of my human friends are experiencing challenging times including cancer diagnosis, company liquidation and there has been a death in the family. So this weekend I have chosen a powerful image of raw love and brave strength under duress; a war dog with the helmet of his human companion during the Vietnam war. Photographer unknown. Hold your loved ones close.
“Dogs never lie about love” – Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Telepathy
September 17, 2009

Dog trainers emphasise how important our attitude is when ‘training’ our puppies. Being confident, assertive and calm, visualizing a positive response from the dog. Yes. Dogs pick up on that, of course.
And if dogs are able to ‘receive’ these energetic signals, natural law dictates that they are also able to ‘send’. Animal communicators are skilled in tuning in to the frequency of signals dogs send out, sometimes in spectacular and surprising ways.
I find myself ‘tuning in’ to dogs much more mindfully nowadays. Of course, there are times we do this more intensely – when our dog is unwell, for example. I think as loving dog people we do this most of the time without even realising we’re doing it.
Right now at our house we are experiencing serious psychic phenomena twice a day! Maybe you’ve experienced the same thing. The exact same thing.
Here’s how it goes. I am doing something, I’m quite involved with it; folding towels, cutting up vegetables, writing an email. Suddenly, completely out of nowhere, I have the strong, alien idea of “lollipop”. “Bubba wants a lollipop”.
I look round and there is Bubba Dog staring at me. Then he tilts his head as in “Yes? that OK? Lollipop?” and begins heading for the kichen.
It’s freaking me out!
These doggy treat ‘lollipops’ were a gift from a cousin. There is a gigantic bag of them in the kitchen. Bubba has decided that he wants one twice a day – once in the morning and then after dinner. He lets me know when by politely asking using telepathy rather than paw at me or whine quietly. I oblige.
What else am I doing that Bubba has telepathically programmed me to do? Buy mince? Cook it with olive oil? Get canon bones – today?
I think children are particularly excellent at ‘hearing’ dogs and having a sense of what they want and getting it for them or giving it to them. In the photo above, who is to say what telepathic communication is going on there between the toddler and dog? Many people would apply a very simple rationale to this scenario like the child just enjoys seeing the dog drinking and so turns the water on. And, yeah, I am sure that is true. But what about what’s underneath the obvious? We don’t really know what’s going on energetically between this dog and child. I’d like to think they are in pure communion with each other.
Have you experienced telepathic connection with your dog? Leave a comment.
Winner
September 15, 2009

Oh whoop-whoop! Thank you SO much if you took the time to enter your dog in our Giveaway to win a copy of Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul.
(The winner isn’t the dog in the photo above; that Pom just has a winning smile!)
It was an absolute joy for me to see your comments and the names of the darling dogs who were in to win:
Angel, Indi, Buddy, Irie, Dottie, Coco, Bandit/1/2/3/4, Bambi, Kayla, Jade, Zeus, Milele, Kouga, Nigel Buggers, Peaches, Muffins, Henry, Sylvia, Daisy, Petie, Harvey, Sadie, Maxie, Mr Mojo, Bob Barker, Jude, Snickers, Viking, Sierra, Loki, Pepper, Miguel, Penelope, Patty, Mischa, Trisha, Buddy, Baxter, Delilah, Minnie, Buffy, Pippi, Shiela, Bambina, Damien, Abby, Samson, Bentley, Bailey, Sugar, Foxy, Taffy, Kirby, Colby, Jasper, Kayla, Maebe, Boss, Ailis, Sophie, Skye, ‘c/o SnowWolf’, Bob, Lola, RA, Brittany, Khumbu, Larz, Sadie, Ruby, Sugar, Peanut, Spooky, Niqu, Loki, Belle, Frankie, Jasmine.
The WINNER is Peanut, the Boston Terrier! YAY!
Now, look, while we can safely presume that Bostons are definitely great listeners to stories what with those fantastic ears and all, I must mention Peanut’s win is a bone of contention with our Bubba dog having developed a tiny aversion to this particular breed after being ambushed a few years ago by two unruly Boston Terriers in the park! LOL.
I think he was going with his genes and rooting for the Northern breeds brigade. And our cats were crossing velvet paws for the dog whose person who has the “allmycats” email address! Except for our girl cat Indi who wanted the dog called Indi to win.
Personally I thought Boss the pit bull might get it because there is a dog called Boss in our story, Barking Dog, and a pit bull-cross in Stick Dog. We had a good representation of Chihuahuas and Precious Dog is a Chi so that could have been a go. And Sadie the Great Dane [swoon] at the other end of the scale.
And Siberian Huskies, incl. crosses too, and Clever Dog features a Sibe so again, that would have worked. We had a Belle in the draw and Tricky Dog is about a dog called Belle – and we had TWO dogs called Buddy in and we have a story all about Buddy Dog! How amazing is all that?!
Huge congratulations to Peanut, what a star! Oh, and Pat, Peanut’s person, of course! How wonderful. Thank you all so very much.
Weekend
September 12, 2009

I love this photograph. I look at it and feel instantly centered. A wise woman, a wise dog, two souls connected.
Jerome K. Jerome has this to say about our relationships with dogs: “He is very impudent, a dog is. He never makes it his business to enquire whether you are in the right or in the wrong, never bothers as to whether you are going up or down upon life’s ladder, never asks whether you are rich or poor, silly or wise, sinner or saint.
You are his pal.
That is enough for him, and come luck or misfortune, good repute or bad, honor or shame, he is going to stick by you, to comfort you, guard you, give his life for you, if need be …”
Photo of interwoven spirits, Mary Ellen Mark and companion, 1990
Demo
September 10, 2009
Arf, arf.
Here’s a demonstration of how to read to your dog. Mmmn. Actually, given that it’s all a bit slap-dash, being my first attempt at videoing while also reading to my darling dog, maybe how not to do it!)
But as you can see after a bit of faffing around, (including me showing how well-trained I am getting him a treat before we start! Bubba checking his intimate equipment is A-OK and getting comfy on the floor, not the sofa) reading to your dog can be a beautiful thing!
Giveaway
September 8, 2009

Look, someone has his nose in a book! Oh Bubba!
OK, OK, I will make sure the winner of this woo-hoo GIVEAWAY gets a pristine, brand new, shrink-wrapped and lovely copy of Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul (even while, yes, I know your dog might consider Malamute slober as something very enjoyable to ‘read’).
For the chance to win just leave a comment below with your dog’s name. Yes, you see it is really your DOG entering the giveaway. And if you don’t have a dog, leave a comment with the name of a dog you know, (or even one you don’t know at your local shelter).
You don’t have to have a dog to enter, just a desire to spread some Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul around.
Leave your answer in the comment box below now. (Definitely do it before midnight on Monday 14 September – or thereabouts – this GIVEAWAY is worldwide so I’m allowing for all our global time zones.)
The winning dog will be chosen at random using www.randomizer.org and his or her copy of Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul will be mailed First Class post worldwide. Good luck to woo!
Oh, also, if you Tweet the link to this GIVEAWAY on Twitter you’ll get a second chance to win (make sure you put @bibliopet in the Tweet so I can see & record it).
Who’s going to win? I’m so excited!
Now closed. Thank you to all the wonderful people who entered their dogs - see “Winner”




